Before the Fast & Furious franchise, before the Blues Brothers, before Smokey and the Bandit, before the French Connection, there was Bullitt. Steve McQueen, director Peter Yates, and stunt drivers Bud Elkins, Bill Hickman, and Carey Loftin worked together to craft a car chase that, to this day is the standard by which all car chases are judged, and none have surpassed. Here, courtesy of The Selvedge Yard, is a behind the scenes glimpse into the making of this legendary and ground breaking scene. ahr

To say thatBullitt had a car chase scene is like saying Steve McQueen was a good actor. Both are arguably gross understatements. The history-making car chase from Bullitt is still considered the gold standard for which all such scenes are held to today.

McQueen hadn’t planned on a driving double– in fact, he firmly insisted on doing all the Mustang stunt driving himself. But that all quickly changed– while shooting an early scene (that can be seen in the film), he missed a turn pretty hard and nearly lost it. The studio exec’s immediately pulled the plug on McQueen’s plans and tapped professional stunt drivers with a little more practical experience and skill. As fate would have it, main driving duties were handed over to none other than McQueen’s good buddy (and auto and motorcycle racing legend) Bud Ekins.